The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: S

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the next letter of this challenge: S

The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon Kay Penman

From the back cover: In this beautifully rendered modern classic, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III - vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower - from his maligned place in history with a dazzling combination of research and story telling.

Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called the War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning.

I honestly don't know where to start with this one! I can say that it is probably the best book I have ever read. The story begins when Richard is about seven years old and witnesses the Lancastrian sacking of Ludlow and ends a few years after his death with Elizabeth of York reminiscing. Ms. Penman does an absolutely fantastic job of refuting the generally accepted version (from Shakespeare's play) of Richard's life and personality. She gives us a human Richard, one who had fears and doubts but was unfailingly honorable and loyal. One of the things that stand out in this novel is the way Ms. Penman shows how events and people around him while he was growing up really helped shape the man Richard would ultimately become. As in all her books, her impeccable research is beyond compare and her knowledge of her subject really shows; you can tell she did her homework before writing her novel. She blends history with her storytelling so beautifully that the reader is transported to another time and place effortlessly. All of the characters in the story are wonderfully written and developed, making it seem like you are old acquaintances and could reach out and touch them. While full of detail and description, the narrative does not get weighed down or feel like you're plowing through an encyclopedia; everything is relevant, helping the story move along and giving the reader a deeper insight to not only Richard's life and personality but to the world around him which helped make him who he was. She also (thankfully) does not twist the history completely out of shape simply to fit the story she is trying to tell or include all manner of rumors just because they are sensational. She will mention in her author's note the places where she did make some changes to help the story along as well as how she developed her theories on Richard. There just is no one else who can write like Ms. Penman and tell such a remarkable story.

This is a large book but don't let that keep you from it; you will not regret the time you spend between its covers! Once you begin reading I promise you will not want to put it down. Every time I immerse myself in Penman's world I find it very difficult to pull myself away. Please look for a more in depth review on my blog in the next week.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: M

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the next letter of this challenge: M

Secrets of the Tudor Court, D.L. Bogdan

From the back cover: When young Mary Howard receives the news that she will be leaving her home for the grand court of King Henry VIII, to attend his mistress Anne Boleyn, she is ecstatic. Everything Anne touches seems to turn to gold, and Mary is certain Anne will one day become Queen. But Mary has also seen the King's fickle nature and how easily he discards those who were once close to him...

Discovering that she is a pawn in a carefully orchestrated plot devised by her father, the duke of Norfolk, Mary dare not disobey him. Yet despite all of her efforts to please him, she too falls prey to his cold wrath. Noth until she becomes betrothed to Harry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond and son to King Henry VIII, does Mary find the love and approval she's been seeking. But just when Mary believes she is finally free of her father, the tides turn. Now Mary must learn to play her part well in a dangerous chess game that could change her life -- and the course of history.


As I am always up for a good Tudor read I was looking forward to this novel about a little known figure from history. Mary Howard was the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk and she was married to Henry VIII's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy but that is usually all you see of her in any Tudor era novels - if she is even mentioned at all. This novel focuses in on her life from childhood, through her turbulent years at the Tudor court, and ends with her father's death a year before her own. While a subject of this sort has a wide range of potential I personally felt there was something lacking. I do not think this was a bad book but something about it just missed the mark with me, though I did enjoy getting a peek at someone I had never read about before. It is a novel about a very obscure person from history (a line at the end of the novel says it all: No one will remember her) and in cases such as this there is going to be very little historical information for an author to pull from, leaving a wide scope for the author's interpretation and thoughts. So while I can't say the author's interpretation of Mary's story is inaccurate I can't say it is accurate either. I found Mary Howard a bit too much of a goody-goody and her dogged determination to love her father no matter what was a bit irritating, especially considering the horrible way he treated her and her mother (and when I say horrible I really do mean horrible). Her constant quest to find approval in her father's eyes made me want to throw up my hands in frustration as he repeatedly showed that he really didn't care. I did feel incredibly sorry for Mary since she was cheated out of the love she so desperately wanted from a husband thanks to her father's constant scheming and the scenes between Mary and Harry Fitzroy were really touching. And speaking of her father, I could never decide if he hated Mary or was in love with her. Between the horrible beatings (and if a reader out there has been the victim of domestic violence I would recommend they steer clear of this book) he gave her and then the odd "making up" scenes, I was really scratching my head and feeling that there was just something not quite right there. Besides the oddness of the relationship between Mary and the Duke, there were some parts of the plot that just seemed stuck in there but really served no purpose (one example being the fate of Mary's lover Cedric). I really thought the book had potential, and there were parts of it that I really enjoyed, but there were just too many odd things that left me scratching my head in the end. The epilogue by Mary's mother was really good and did strike a cord with me and seemed like a good ending to Mary's story. One thing I would have really liked would have been an author's note discussing where she got some of her information on the subject of Mary and the Howards (especially the Duke's personality). All in all I would say it was a good book, even though there were things I didn't personally like. It was an easy read and it would be a great book for someone who isn't into the really "heavy on the detail" historical fiction on the Tudors. I will certainly read another by this author as her writing was entertaining enough.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: L

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the next letter of this challenge: L

London, Edward Rutherfurd

From the back cover: In the tradition of his phenomenal bestseller Sarum, Edward Rutherfurd now gives us a sweeping novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning two thousand years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the twentieth century. Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world...

After reading Rutherfurd's novel about Sarum (Salisbury) I couldn't wait to see what he did with the families in London. I was not disappointed. Starting at the banks of the Thames with the druids right before the Roman conquest of England and stopping on the banks of the Thames in 1997, Rutherfurd paints an absolutely amazing picture of London. He includes several different maps at the beginning which show London in different periods in its history and I found it fascinating to see how the city changed and expanded throughout the years. He also includes, thankfully, a very helpful family tree which really comes in handy when you're trying to keep up with all the families and their intertwining story lines throughout the novel. Of course there is going to be the usual embellishment that you're going to find in any fictional novel but it is mixed so well with history that nothing is going to see really out of place (or time). The novel is about several families that live in London, though thankfully all of these families do not show up in each chapter (which are divided pretty much according to a major event in each historical period [Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman Conquest, etc]) so you will only have to keep up with around three to four of the families per time period. It is really fascinating to follow these families and their relationships with each other. It really shows us how families in these distant days would pass on their feuds and friendships down through the generations.

Now that I am much more familiar with many of the periods and events covered here I will probably go back and re-read it. This is a long novel (prepare yourself for some flipping back and forth between your reading and the maps and family tree at the front) and some parts will drag a bit but I do not think you'll be disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure through London's history and I would recommend it to anyone, especially those interested in London's very colorful history.

Please read my entire review on this novel here.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: J

Cutting it close again! I just can't remember stuff anymore...must be old age!

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the fourth letter of this challenge: J

The Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey

From the back cover: Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world's most heinous villains - a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother's children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England's throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.

Being a fan of Richard III I was eager to get my hands on this book and once I did, I could not put it down. I loved it. The main character is a detective, immobilized in the hospital, and after seeing a picture of Richard III, decides he's going to try to figure out the truth in this centuries old mystery. He just can't believe that the face he sees in that portrait could be capable of murdering family members. With the help of a scholar he pours over documents, letters, etc, anything from Richard's time that would help clear up the case. I liked the methodical way that Inspector Grant went over all the evidence he could lay his hands on with a policeman's mind, looking at it without the pro or anti Richard bias found with so many scholars and historians. Of course the novel is only set within a short amount of time and it is a bit unlikely that someone could solve this mystery in such a small amount of time when historians have been pouring over it for centuries. That doesn't take away from the points that Tey offers on the subject and they should get some readers thinking. The fact that Tey wrote this novel in the 1950s, before the surge of pro-Richard societies dedicated to rehabilitating his reputation, is intriguing to me. The common opinion on Richard at that time is like what she portrays in the novel: it was accepted history that Richard was an evil hunchback who murdered his brother's sons. What made her branch out and write a novel in which she tries to prove that the long accepted idea of Richard's reputation was false?

While certainly a work of fiction (and the author most likely would have left out some facts that didn't fit into the story she was trying to tell) it brings up some very interesting questions concerning Richard III and the disappearance of his nephews. Probably the main point that she conveys is that history is always written by the victors so whether Richard killed the boys or not, the new regime would want him to be as slandered as possible to make their position more secure. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, a quick and easy read, and a must for anyone with pro-Richardian sympathies.

You can read my full review here.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: H

Whew! Again, just barely getting mine in on time!!

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the fourth letter of this challenge: H

The Hollow Crown, Helen Hollick

A wife of two kings and the mother of two more...

Aged only thirteen, Emma of Normandy is married in a strategic alliance to King Aethelred of England. Indifferent and arrogant, Aethelred is loathed by his young wife, who soon realises his failings as a man and a ruler. Their first son, Edward, is conceived through an act of violence that is little more than rape.

England is invaded by the Viking King Swein Forkbeard and his son Cnut. After a bitter struggle, and with fortune running against him, Aethelred loses both his kingdom and his life, leaving Emma, now dowager queen, to hold London. Cnut has already proven himself to be ruthless and powerful, a man of determination, fortitude - and passion. When he demands the surrender of London, or suffer the consequences, Emma stakes everything on the most dangerous and important gamble of her life...

This was the first of Helen Hollick's novels I ever read and at first it was a bit daunting. It is a very, very large book. However, the history it covers is extremely interesting and full of everything you would want in your historical fiction: love, hate, war, betrayal, intrigue, politics. I had never read anything that covered this eventful time in England's history and found the events that were covered extremely interesting. There are lots of characters that become incredibly tangled throughout the novel but Hollick makes it easy to follow each one and the many different events that eventually shaped England's future. Her detail in describing the time is amazing and really brings to life an era very distant and different from our own (and even from other, more medieval times). Even though writing about a much less documented time period, Hollick's story was very believable without any glaring moments of "That just doesn't seem to fit with the time." I was amazed at how Emma was able to survive her very inept first husband, the incredibly difficult times that encompassed the Viking invasion, and the events after her second husband's death. She was a very strong and determined lady. Her growth from a scared, naive thirteen year old in a new and strange land to a strong and very capable queen holding London against Viking invaders was wonderful to follow. The other main characters here all have very distinct personalities that will really cause you to either like them or hate them; there really isn't much in between with these strong personalities.

This is a big tome of a novel but I would recommend it to readers interested in the generations leading up to the Norman invasion of England. Hollick's novel will give you some very interesting food for thought.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: F

Whew! Again, just barely getting mine in on time!!

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the fourth letter of this challenge: F

Falls the Shadow, Sharon Kay Penman

Simon de Montfort was a man ahead of his time in the thirteenth century, a disinherited Frenchman who talked his way into an English earldom and marriage with a sister of the English king, Henry III. A charismatic, obstinate leader, Simon soon lost patience with the king's incompetence and inability to keep his word, and found himself the champion of the common people.

This is his story, and the story of Henry III, as weak and changeable as Simon was brash and unbending. It is a tale of opposing wills that woudl eventually clash in a storm of violence and betrayal - an irresistible saga that brings the pages of history completely, provocatively, and magnificently alive.

This is the second book in Penman's Welsh trilogy and covers the life of Simon de Montfort, a man who really was ahead of his time, thus causing him to be completely at odds with most of the nobility of his age. He helped bring about the start of Parliament in England which was not looked on favorably by Henry (what monarch would want to give up some of his power?). This book is full of very volatile characters with very big personalities, all very well described and their growth and change throughout very well documented. I was really amazed at how completely inept Henry was as a king and how he managed to keep his throne. I could fully sympathize with Simon in his annoyance with his monarch's complete lack of backbone, though I could see where he could have gone about things differently, thus not angering Henry quite as much. Simon really is a very human "hero" in this novel - he is championing a very noble cause and is a good, decent, and honorable man but he is also has quite a few flaws. I really feel it is his flaws that really made me cheer for him; he was so REAL. Henry's son, the future Edward I, made himself highly dislikable in my eyes with his constant betrayals and going back on his word. I can see now why he was such a powerful king. Interspersed with Simon and Henry's story is the continuing Welsh story - this time focusing on Llewelyn Fawr's grandson, Llewelyn, and his struggles against his brothers Owain and Davydd as he fights to keep alive his grandfather's wonderful dream of a strong and united Wales. I enjoyed this second book though not nearly as much as the first in the trilogy (but really, how can you NOT prefer reading about Llewelyn Fawr and Joanna?). I felt a bit bogged down in the middle with all the discussion about the Provisions and such, but things really picked up towards the end. I can not wait to read the last book in the series, The Reckoning, which truly focuses on Llewelyn and his final struggles in Wales.

*I will post a more detailed review next week.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: D

Whew! Just barely getting mine in on time!!

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the fourth letter of this challenge: D

Here Be Dragons, Sharon Kay Penman

From the back cover:

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales - and Llewelyn - Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.

The turbulent clashes of two disparate worlds and the destinies of the individuals caught between them spring to life in this magnificent novel of power and passion, loyalty and lies.

I absolutely, positively loved this book. Sharon Kay Penman is really a top notch storyteller. I could not put this one down! Llewelyn and Joanna's story is simply amazing and so full of life and love. You can't help but fall in love with Llewelyn - he is so courageous and honorable and passionate. I want to travel to Wales just in the hopes of seeing him appear somewhere! Joanna is such a complex and changing character throughout - from a young, scared girl married into a strange land to a woman desperately in love with her husband but torn with loyalty to her father to a mature woman who knows she has to live with the consequences of her actions. There are many other intriguing and well developed characters running around, including Joanna's father, King John, and Llewelyn's arrogant son, Gruffydd. As usual, Penman's descriptions, this time of Wales and its people and their traditions and customs, really help to bring to life a time very distant from our own and one that most are not familiar with. I think a true sign of a good author is when you can close your eyes and really see what they are talking about; you feel like you can almost reach out and touch it. That is achieved magnificently in this novel. I can not wait to read the next two books in the trilogy, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning.

*I will be posting a more detailed review in a few days.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: C

We had some extra time to do this letter and I've finally found the time to post mine!

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the second letter of this challenge: C

The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell

From the back cover:

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

This was the first of Cornwell's books that I ever read and it was positively remarkable. Instead of the usual Arthurian story that is full of Merlin and magic, knights in shining armor, and Camelot, we have a a story that breathes life into a possible historical basis for the legend behind Arthur. If you are looking for a fantasy or romance, this is not the Arthur book for you. The story is told through the eyes of Derfel, a Saxon child raised by the Britons and a ward in Merlin's household. He works his way up through the ranks to become a great solider and one of Arthur's close friends. Through his eyes we see an Arthur that really "could have been." He is not a king but a powerful lord. He is a great man and respected but just a man with his own faults and weaknesses; Merlin is not beside him helping out with lots of magical spells. We see a gritty, harsh, dirty 5th Century England full of superstition, violence, and bloodshed, only a generation or so removed from the Roman occupation. The descriptions of scenery, battles, etc are positively amazing and you will feel like you are in the middle of it all. Cornwell has included characters that we are familiar with but some of them (Lancelot in particular) are given very different personalities or rolls in the overall story (Mordred for example is the true king, Uther's grandson, but a crippled infant, while Arthur is Uther's bastard son who has come to protect the child). Cornwell includes a few maps and character and places lists at the beginning which will really help you keep up with who is who and where they are, since he does not use well known names for most of the locations. I think what I enjoyed most about this story (and the next two in the series) was that they are written in such a way as to be incrediably believable; I can really believe that THIS Arthur existed.

If you enjoy this book, make sure that you read the following novels in the series: Enemy of God and Excalibur.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: B

Each fortnight the ladies at Historical Tapestry will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the second letter of this challenge: B

The Last Boleyn, Karen Harper

This is another telling of the now very well known story of Mary Boleyn, sister to Queen Anne Boleyn. While Philippa Gregory brought this story to worldwide attention, this novel was published years before Gregory's version and seems to be deemed as more historically accurate.

From the back cover:

Greed, lust for power, sex, lies, secret marriages, religious posturing, adultery, beheadings, international intrigue, jealousy, treachery, love, loyalty, and betrayal. The Last Boleyn tells the story of the rise and fall of the Boleyns, one of England's most powerful families, through the eyes of the eldest daughter, Mary.

Although her sister, Anne, the queen; her brother, George, executed alongside Anne; and her father, Thomas, are most remembered by history, Mary was the Boleyn who set into motion the chain of events that brought about the family's meteoric rise to power, as well as the one who managed to escape their equally remarkable fall. Sent away to France at an extraordinarily young age, Mary is quickly plunged into the dangerous world of court politics, where everything is beautiful but deceptive, and everyone she meets is watching and quietly manipulating the events and people around them. As she grows into a woman, Mary must navigate both the dangerous waters ruled by two kings and the powerful will of her own family in order to find a place for herself and the love she so deeply desires.

I have already written a full review about this book and you can read it here.

This book may throw off readers who have read Gregory's work on the same subject because there are so many differences. However, most people seem to feel that Harper's work tends to be more historically accurate. We get the story completely from Mary's eyes here and it really is focused on her and her life, not just Anne's life through her eyes. While history seems to want to classify Mary as a loose, unintelligent girl, Harper's portrayal paints her as a someone caught up in the events around her but with the intelligence to find her way out at the end. I really liked her character in this book; she doesn't seem so syrupy sweet and shows that she does have a mind of her own (though her stubbornness in some matters was irritating at times!). I am also glad that Harper chose not to make Anne seem like a horrible, evil, witch; her character was much more believable to me here. I would certainly suggest that anyone who has read Gregory's take on the Boleyn story and is interested in reading more to pick up this book. It was probably the first historical fiction account of Mary's life, originally published as Passion's Reign in 1983.

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction Challenge: A

Historical Tapestry is hosting a wonderful new challenge and I'm excited to participate! Each fortnight they will post a new letter of the alphabet and you do a blog post about a work of historical fiction that has that letter:

• as the first letter in the title
• as the first letter of the author's first or last name
• the first letter of a character's first or last name
• the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

So here is my post for the first letter of this challenge: A

The Reluctant Queen, Jean Plaidy

This is one of the novels in Plaidy's "Queens of England series" and tells the story of the life of Anne Neville, daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker and wife to King Richard III.

From the back cover:

In 1470, a reluctant Anne Neville is bethrothed by her father, the politically ambitious Earl of Warwick, to Edward, Prince of Wales. A gentle yet fiercely intelligent woman, Anne has already given her heart to the prince's younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Unable to oppose her father's will, she finds herself in line for the throne of England - an obligation that she does not want. Yet fate intervenes when Edward is killed at the Battle of Tewksbury. Anne suddenly finds herself free to marry the man she loves - and who loves her in return. The ceremony is held at Westminster Abbey, and the duke and duchess make a happy home at Middleham Castle, where both spend much of their childhood. Their life is idyllic, until the reigning king dies and a whirlwind of dynastic maneuvering leads to his children being declared illegitimate. Richard inherits the throne as King Richard III, and Anne is crowned queen consort, a destiny she thought she had successfully avoided. Her husband's reign lasts two years, two months, and two days - and in that short time Anne witnesses the true toll that wearing the crown takes on Richard, the last king from the House of York.

Yes, I realize there is an error in all that. Richard of Gloucester was not the younger brother of Edward, Prince of Wales to whom Anne was engaged; he was the younger brother of Edward of York. That is not my error but merely what was printed on the back cover of the book.

Aside from that, this was a nice look into the life of Anne Neville. The excerpt on the back leaves out hints of all that Anne had to endure before she was able to marry Richard and the losses they suffered once he became king. Plaidy paints the relationship between Richard and Anne as very loving and affectionate, both having fallen for the other during their childhoods growing up together. While some believe this wasn't the case, it makes for a very sweet and touching storyline. This story really looks into Anne's thoughts and feelings about the events taking place in the world around her and how she is thrust into many of them against her will. Being a woman in that time period, she was schooled to not question the decisions of the men in her life but that certainly did not stop her from having her own opinions about them. I am not going to post a full review here as I plan on doing one in a separate post at a later date but I really enjoyed reading about Anne's life. It was well written and very interesting. Since reading Plaidy's version of the story I have read several others that portray Anne and Richard in many different lights, but most of them seem to gloss over Anne, merely mentioning her when she had to mentioned; it was nice to read something that was solely about her as I find her a very interesting person in all the mess surrounding the struggle for the throne. This was my first exposure to Richard III and was the beginning of my interest (obsession??) in finding out more about his life.